Durga Puja celebrations turned into mourning late on Saturday, October 17, as disaster struck the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata's Burrabazar area. On Maha Saptami, a sudden downpour, a massive crowd, inadequate police deployment, limited entry and exit points, and an announcement warning of the pandal's imminent collapse reportedly triggered a deadly stampede. By the time the chaos subsided, 19 people from West Bengal and Bihar were dead and 35 injured, some critically.
Crowd surges are not unprecedented during Kolkata's Durga Puja. In 2015, a stampede at Deshapriya Park left around 11 people injured, while a similar incident at Sreebhumi Sporting Club in 2021 left three seriously injured. But a tragedy on Chorbagan's scale is exceptionally rare.
The aftermath was all too familiar. The Durga Puja pandal was shut down, compensation and government jobs were promised to victims' families, and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced probes and high-powered committees. Puja organisers were arrested as the BJP and opposition traded accusations. All par for the course.
Even as investigations begin, questions have emerged about what caused the tragedy and the preparations and decisions that might have prevented it. Here are five key questions that will need to be answered.
1. WHERE WAS KOLKATA POLICE ON OCTOBER 17?
Kolkata's biggest Durga Puja pandals routinely draw in massive crowds. But a deadly stampede like the one that transpired on October 17, remains exceptionally rare.
Much of it can be attributed to the Kolkata Police and the city administration's crowd management, which has over the years drawn commendation.
As Calcutta High Court Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya noted in his 2023 judgment in the Manab Jati Kalyan Foundation vs The State of West Bengal, noted that "Kolkata Police and the administration have been lauded by several quarters for their law enforcement during Puja times". He added that the force and the administration regularly adopted "checks and bounds and measures" to control traffic and "congestion of people".
The scene at North Kolkata's Chorbagan Sarbojanin pandal, however, was starkly different. Locals and witnesses have alleged that police deployment was inadequate, with a few cops in situ deployed around the VIP entrances even as crowds surged elsewhere.
The burden of crowd control instead fell on a motely crew of civic volunteers, private security personnel and home guards, insufficient in both number and training to control a crowd crush.
A senior police officer told PTI that circumstantial evidence and eyewitness accounts suggest that poor crowd control contributed to the stampede and that the number of personnel deployed was insufficient.
CM Suvendu Adhikari said on Sunday that the role of temporary home guards deployed at the Chorbagan pandal would come under scrutiny as part of the investigation into the stampede.
But this leaves a larger question unanswered.
Why did a major Durga Puja that routinely draws massive crowds not have adequate police personnel with experience in crowd management deployed at the venue?
The contrast is striking. On the same day, a substantial contingent of Kolkata Police and central forces accompanied an earthmover to demolish bookstalls set up by the CPI(M) near Jadavpur's 8B bus stand, The Telegraph reported. Couldn't a similar force be spared to ensure safety around an overcrowded pandal?
2. WHO MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT SPARKED CHORBAGAN STAMPEDE?
The situation at Kolkata's Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal was already critical. A massive crowd was inching through the venue as heavy rain began, with witnesses alleging that there were too few personnel to manage the flow of visitors.
Then, an announcement rang out over the public address system. "The condition of the pandal is very bad. It will collapse. Please leave."
The impact of the announcement was akin to dropping a lit match on a petrol spill. Visitors rushed towards the narrow entry and exit gates, triggering the deadly crush that killed 19 people and injured 25 others.
CM Adhikari has said that preliminary information from the assistant commissioner of police at the scene suggested that the announcement, made by a private security agency, along with the blowing of whistles, triggered the incident.
A senior police officer told PTI that investigators had obtained video footage of the announcement and were trying to identify the person who made it and establish what prompted the warning.
So who was it that made the announcement? Who asked them to do so? Was the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal really under the risk of collapse? These are three very critical questions that will need to be answered by investigators.
3. WHERE WERE THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES AND THEIR CREWS?
Kolkata's major Durga Puja pandals draw massive crowds, making emergency preparedness crucial. Fire engines, ambulances and personnel trained in first aid and rescue operations can help contain a crisis and evacuate the injured when things go wrong, and most of the big-ticket pandals usually have them deployed in advance.
At the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal on October 17, however, the emergency response was woefully inadequate. With no adequate deployment of trained rescue personnel, local residents stepped in, tearing down parts of the pandal structure to reach people trapped in the crush.
There were also no trained paramedics on site to administer first aid, nor were there ambulances available to rush the wounded. It was residents and locals who rushed the injured to the Medical College Kolkata using whatever transport they could get a hold of, including hailing down taxis and booking app cabs.
The challenges continued at the hospital. Despite being one of West Bengal’s premier tertiary-care facilities, Medical College Kolkata's emergency department reportedly had only a skeletal crew of interns and junior doctors on duty.
The Telegraph reported that junior doctors later alleged the hospital lacked a trauma-care centre, essential medicines in the emergency ward and adequate neurosurgical facilities to handle critical cases.
Why then, were adequate emergency services and trained rescue personnel not available at a major Durga Puja pandal like at Chorbagan that was expected to draw large crowds?
HOW WAS CHORBAGAN DURGA PUJA PANDAL GIVEN FIRE CLEARANCE?
The Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal had several features that raise questions about its fire clearance. The structure reportedly had a single narrow exit for a massive crowd and dimly lit interiors, while the Burrabazar neighbourhood where it stood was accessible through a maze of narrow lanes.
Visitors and residents said they had to navigate a dark, enclosed corridor constructed with heavy iron rods and tightly woven mesh, resembling a cage.
The design may have been thematic, but several visitors later described feeling "trapped and claustrophobic". In a venue expected to draw thousands, such concerns raise questions about whether the layout adequately accounted for crowd movement and emergency evacuation.
Last month, the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Department issued a circular calling on Durga Puja organisers to ensure proper entry and exit points at their pandals. Why, then, was a pandal with a reportedly narrow exit and confined pathways, situated in a Kolkata neighbourhood characterised by narrow lanes, cleared to proceed?
Following the October 17 stampede, officials stepped up safety audits of high-footfall pandals in Kolkata, issuing compliance notices to prominent committees after inspections by a high-powered government review team, The Indian Express reported.
PTI reported that the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Department as having issued notices to three prominent Durga Puja committees in south Kolkata over alleged deficiencies in fire safety arrangements.
The question that thus stands, why couldn't such safety audits be undertaken proactively? Bolting the stable is good and all, but not after the horse has already bolted.
DID CHORBAGAN DURGA PUJA ORGANISERS HAVE A ROLE IN THE STAMPEDE?
West Bengal experienced a change in political guard after the BJP's sweeping victory in the Assembly elections, the results of which were declared on May 4.
The change also extended to the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee. In July, former organiser Jayanta Banerjee, who had led the committee for nearly 40 years, and seven other members reportedly stepped down.
They were replaced by a new team led by BJP MLA from Jorasanko Vijay Ojha as chairperson and Raj Kumar Sewda as secretary. Debdeep Adhikari, the CM's nephew, was named chief patron, according to media reports.
However, back in July, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya urged party leaders not to use their political influence to take charge of puja committees beyond their own constituencies.
But did this new, relatively inexperienced committee, overlook safety measures at Chorbagan? That is for investigators to establish. Seven people have been arrested in connection with the stampede, including Raj Kumar Sewda and committee vice-president Santanu Dubey, along with workers responsible for crowd control and private security.
Police sources, meanwhile, told The Indian Express that the organisers had not adequately reviewed the security situation or sought additional manpower from Kolkata Police. "The organisers did not review the security situation adequately and no additional manpower was also sought from Kolkata Police. The police, too, did not review the situation," the sources said.
Before the first Durga Puja under the BJP government, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari promised celebrations on an unprecedented scale. Saturday's tragedy brought a pall of gloom over the celebrations. The five questions are vital to preventing similar tragedies and must be answered, and those responsible must be punished. A detailed investigation cannot undo the trauma or bring back those who died, but it can help prevent a recurrence.
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